Erdogan, Mishri Discuss Latest Developments in Libya

Military training in Libya supervised by Turkish officers south of Tripoli. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Military training in Libya supervised by Turkish officers south of Tripoli. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Erdogan, Mishri Discuss Latest Developments in Libya

Military training in Libya supervised by Turkish officers south of Tripoli. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Military training in Libya supervised by Turkish officers south of Tripoli. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met on Wednesday with Head of Libya’s High Council of State Khalid al-Mishri at the presidential palace in Ankara.

The meeting comes in line with Turkey’s intensive contacts on the developments in Libya and the ongoing preparations for the elections scheduled for December 24.

The senior figures discussed the developments in Libya and the upcoming elections, which Mishri rejects. He says the elections might lead to civil war if staged as planned.

According to Turkish sources, Erdogan stressed Turkey’s support for the Libyan government to achieve stability.

Election results will not be recognized because they lack credibility and acceptance by Libyans, Mishri says. He stresses that Libya’s stability relies on the extent to which parties commit to UN decisions.

Mishri says the laws related to the presidential and parliamentary elections include inaccuracies and violations, and that they were approved by the High National Election Commission without being presented to members of the House of Representatives for discussion and voting.

Prior to his meeting with Erdogan, Mishri met Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and discussed with him the current political situation and latest developments in Libya, the FM wrote on Twitter.

He expressed hope that stability, prosperity and peace would prevail in Libya, stressing Ankara’s continuous support.

Turkey's Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop also received Mishri and discussed with him the bilateral ties and developments in Libya.

Sentop underscored the ongoing cooperation between the two countries in all fields, including infrastructure, education, security, defense, development and trade.

Mishri hailed Turkey’s firm stances and support for Libya to confront all the challenges. He supports the Turkish military presence in Libya and hopes to expand ties with it in various fields.



US Drops $10 Million Reward for Syria’s al-Sharaa

US Drops $10 Million Reward for Syria’s al-Sharaa
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US Drops $10 Million Reward for Syria’s al-Sharaa

US Drops $10 Million Reward for Syria’s al-Sharaa

The Biden administration said Friday it has decided not to pursue a $10 million reward it had offered for the capture of Ahmad al-Sharaa, whose group led fighters that ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad earlier this month.

The announcement followed a meeting in Damascus between al-Sharaa and the top US diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, who led the first US diplomatic delegation into Syria since Assad’s ouster.

Al-Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, remains designated a foreign terrorist organization, and Leaf would not say if sanctions stemming from that designation would be eased.

However, she told reporters that Sharaa had committed to renouncing terrorism and as a result the US would no longer offer the reward.
Leaf said the US would make policy decisions based on actions and not words.

"It was a good first meeting. We will judge by the deeds, not just by words," Leaf said in a briefing and added that the US officials reiterated that Syria's new government should be inclusive. It should also ensure that terrorist groups cannot pose a threat, she said.
"Ahmed al-Sharaa committed to this," Leaf said. "So, based on our discussion, I told him we would not be pursuing rewards for justice," she said, referring to a $10 million bounty that US had put on the HTS leader's head.

The US delegation also worked to uncover new information about US journalist Austin Tice, who was taken captive during a reporting trip to Syria in 2012, and other American citizens who went missing under Assad.

US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, who was part of the delegation, said Washington would work with Syria's interim authorities to find Tice.

Carstens, who has been in the region since Assad's fall, said he has received a lot of information about Tice, but none of it had so far confirmed his fate one way or another.